begins the Bible. The Hebrew term for ‘the law’, Torah, expresses more exactly the intention of these books. ‘Torah’ means ‘teaching, instruction’, which of course includes law and moral education, but much more: it records the early story of Israel and God’s dealings with the nation in the past, so that the books do not simply teach ethics, but religious history—from the experiences of their forebears later Israelites were intended to learn how to act now, to avoid their predecessors’ mistakes and